The Life of Joy Arlene Rothwell By: Alicia Edgerly ~her granddaughter~

Joy was born June 26th 1934 as Lavena Arlene Rothwell Joy was born in Colombia MO. When my grandma was born, she was giving the first name of Lavena. Lavena was also her mothers name. When her mother was in labor with her, she almost died, so family friends took care of Joy for the first month of her life while her mother recovered. They thought she was such a happy and joyful baby that they called her Joy. They told her parents that she should be named Joy! The name Joy stuck, and her whole family called her Joy from then on.

Lavena and Alexander Brutan Rothwell Joy had two loving parents Joy’s Mother was named Lavena and she was a great mom to Joy Alexander Brutan was her father and worked as a farmer He went by Brutan or AB all his life and was a great husband and father.

Growing up With her family Joy had 2 older brothers, Dan and Larry. Dan was the oldest and was very good to Joy. He would protect her and always made sure she was okay. She always had a special bond with her brother Dan. She also had a little brother named John who was eight years younger than her. Joy mothered her younger brother John and helped take care of him as she grew older.

Joy grew up in the Depression Joy and her family lived on a farm and struggled through the depression Her and her brothers had to walk a far walk everyday to school and helped out around the house and farm. Growing up in the depression also affected how Joy lived after. My grandma Joy would never throw away anything that could be saved and would stash hundreds of canned goods in her house.

High school Joy Attended High school in Columbia MO. She was in musicals in school and even had solos because she had an amazing singing voice. As you can see in the picture to the right, Joy soloed in a high school musical and sang “ A pretty girl is like a melody”.

Her Teen-age years She grew up beautifully as you can tell in the picture to the right. She is about 16 here in the picture. When she was 15 She started to date a boy she knew from church named Kenneth Frasier. His fathers name was also Kenneth so many people called him Buddy. A few years later Kenneth Proposed. And she said YES!

Married at the young age of 18 My Grandma married Kenneth Frasier on June 6th 1953 Joy was 18 about to turn 19 and Kenneth was 19 soon to be 20. She then finally legally changed her name to Joy Arlene when she took his last name of Frasier

Moved to Texas Soon after they married, they moved from Missouri to Texas. Kenneth and Joy moved to Texas because Kenneth was in ROTC and was in the Air force. During their time there, they unfortunately had a stillbirth. They had to bury their first baby girl. They stayed in Texas for about 5 years and then moved to St. Louis MO.

Joy became a Mother After eight years of marriage, Joy and Kenneth had their first daughter together. They named her Julie Marie. (My mother) “My mom was the best mom ever, she made everything fun and happy”- Julie

Divorced after 13 years Joy and Kenneth got a divorce in 1966, 13 years after they were married. Kenneth stayed and kept the house and Joy moved to liberty MO to be close to her parents. Julie, her daughter stayed with Joy the majority of the time except every other weekend and half of the summer when she was with her father.

Joy was an amazing mom “My cousins always wanted to come over because my mom was so nice and cooked the best food” “ She was always happy, I never saw her cry growing up and she made every situation fun” “My feelings were very important to her, She always took my feelings into account” “ She was such a servant, Always serving me and caring for me” “ I loved my mom, She spoke to me like a person, not a child” ~ Julie~

Remarried to Claude Bowman When Joy moved back to Liberty MO. Her brother Dan told his friend Claude who had just lost his wife to cancer that his sister just had gotten a divorce. Claude soon looked her up and asked her on a date. Claude fell in love fast and they got married December 31st 1969.

Married for 30 Happy Years Claude and Joy had a great marriage and they took in each other’s children as there own. After 30 years Claude died in April of 2000. During those 30 years they experienced a lot together and made a lot of lasting memories.

Joy’s Parents Died When Joy was 60 years old her mother passed away in 1994. Her father lived to be 97 and died in 2002. Her father even outlived her husband Claude.

Joy’s only daughter Julie got married Julie got married in 1986 to my father Robert Edgerly. Joy was there for Julie on her wedding day to help her get ready. Joy gained a son-in-law

Grandchildren Her Only child Julie started having children at 30 years old and Joy became a Grandma. This is me and my Grandma on the right. Joy was a great Grandma. Even though I only saw her a couple times a year I loved seeing her. She was the most sweet and God fearing women I knew.

Found a companion in Jesse Robinson. After Claude died, a man from her church named Jesse asked to have dinner together. He had recently lost his wife and did not want to eat alone. They kept eating together and found out they had a lot of similarities. They got married in 2004.

Jesse Robinson Passed away Four years after Joy and Jesse married, Jesse died in 2008. Joy Stayed in her house alone in Farmington, MO for the next two years. Her health started to deteriorate and in 2010 she decided to move to Olathe, Kansas to be close to her daughter Julie and her family.

Joy moved to Olathe, Kansas In 2010, my parents helped move out my grandma and she moved in my room for a couple months before she got her own place. Joy then lived in her own house for a couple years in Olathe with us. We got to see her a lot more and spent all of our holidays with her.

Dementia Joy started to have dementia, which scared her because she lived by herself. She started to forget when she took her medication. She also had a couple of falls She decided she needed to be in an assisted living home.

The Homestead Joy checked in to the homestead, which was an assisted living facility. Her dementia progressively got worse. She also had Milo Fibrosis and had a cancerous tumor in her sinuses. Life started getting harder to live as Joy had multiple surgeries.

The last moments Her Daughter Julie started taking care of her. “ I felt like the roles were reversing a little”… “ I would take care of her and make decisions for her. She could not make any of her own decisions anymore” Dementia was changing her personality. “ she was not the same mom I grew up with” Although dementia seemed to be taking over, Joy and Julie had some really great times in her last days. They would reminisce on good times, cry and laugh together and thank God for the great life she had lived.

Joy Arlene went home to heaven On January 13th 2014, Joy Arlene Robinson died in her assisted living home. She was finally out of pain and could be in peace with her heavenly father. I remember my mom coming in my room and telling me the news of my grandma, she said “ Your grandma(Joy) had an amazing voice, I know she is singing in heaven right now. Don’t be sad, she is in heaven and we will see her again soon.”- Julie

What to remember about Joy Arlene Joy was true to her name. She brought life and joy to any situation and to everyone she was around She was truly a blessing to everyone that got to know her. She had a beautiful relationship with God and her faith in Jesus is what kept her going through life She was gifted with a beautiful singing voice that she used to honor the Lord with. She was a faithful and amazing wife, mother, Grandma and friend. Joy will be greatly missed until the day we get to see her again in heaven.